Scientific research for challenging reef invertebrates needs your help

Dr. Tim Wijgerde and Michaël Laterveer are embarking on new research to discover knowledge and develop protocols to grow and farm azooxanthellate reef invertebrates. To fund the required work, they are seeking the financial contributions of aquarists and the aquarium industry.

Carnation corals are incredibly beautiful but also currently incredibly difficult to keep alive in captivity. Research aims to discover the husbandry requirements of these corals. Image credit: Walmyr Buzatto

Regular readers of Advanced Aquarist may have noticed our last post about this research project was retracted. This was done to allow the research team to revise and better define the project's description and scope for those who expressed concerns. The team has published a new video (see below) to address these concerns as well as clarified the short and long term goals of their research.

Let's show the world what aquarists can accomplish when we muster our hobby for a common good.

With emerging interest in azoox reefkeeping, demand for azoox invertebrates by aquarists and public aquaria are expected to increase as well. Wijgerde and Lateveer aim to unlock the secrets of reef invertebrates that have proven challenging or impossible-to-keep in captivity while also minimizing the hobby's impact on wild reefs . Their initial research will yield a sustainable protocol to keep and propagate azoox corals in captivity starting with carnation corals, Dendronephthya and Scleronephthya spp.

This endeavor is only a stepping stone for further research into invertebrates with challenging dietary requirements such as azoox corals, tunicates, sponges, and bivalves.

Advanced Aquarist strongly encourages your contribution to this crowd-sourced research. Even $5 will help. Encourage your favorite aquarium brands to make corporate contributions. Spread the word with fellow reefkeepers. Like and share this article on Facebook. Tweet. This is the very type of progress our hobby needs, and it's led by two of the most credible and capable coral researchers we know.